Poet-playwright Alfian Sa’at hits back at Straits Times for running story that could compromise his safety

The Straits Times has cobbled together an article made up of extracts from my Facebook statuses (one of which they have *helpfully* translated from Malay to English) and also comments that I’ve made on some threads. They did not interview me for the story. And according to them it’s because they were unable to reach me. And it’s true, because these days I don’t like answering calls from the Straits Times knowing that some things I say will be taken out of context to fit a certain story angle. Which is why I have Facebook, where I can be in full control of what I want to express. But! The Straits Times has obviously found a way around this, because they then wrest that control back from me by taking snippets and then publishing it as an article. The thing is over the past few days I’ve noticed the advance of the online pitchfork mob. The first few responses to my satirical ...